SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — William Carrier and Eric Robinson scored 4 1/2 minutes apart late in the second period, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the San Jose Sharks 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Sean Walker Shayne Gostisbehere and Jackson Blake also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won three straight to open the season. Logan Stankoven had two assists and Brandon Bussi stopped 16 shots in his NHL debut.
William Eklund scored for San Jose, and Alex Nedeljkovic finished with 38 saves. San Jose had opened the season with two overtime losses.
The Hurricanes topped 40 shots on goal for the second straight game, and held the Sharks without a shot in the third period.
Sharks rookie center Michael Misa, the second overall pick in this year’s draft made his NHL debut. The 18-year-old logged 15:06 of ice time and had no shots on goal.
Walker got the Hurricanes on the scoreboard 1:24 into the second period as he one-timed a pass from Sebastian Aho from straightaway through traffic past Nedeljkovic.
Eklund tied it at 4:38 as he got a pass from Tyler Toffoli and sent a shot that went through the 27-year-old Bussi’s pads and into the goal.
Carrier put the Hurricanes back ahead 2-1 with 5:46 left in the middle period. Alexander Nikishin went to the net, got a pass from Jordan Martinook, and sent a backhander off Nedeljkovic and the post and the puck lay in the paint. Carrier came in and knocked it in.
Robinson gave Carolina a two-goal lead with 1:21 left in the period as he got a lead pass from Mike Reilly, skated in on Nedeljkovic and put a backhander past the goalie.
Gostisbehere pushed Carolina’s lead to 4-1 at 1:52 of the third and Blake made it a four-goal lead at 7:25.
The Hurricanes outshot the Sharks 14-8 in a scoreless first period. San Jose had three power plays but were shut down on each one by a Hurricanes team that had the league’s top penalty-kill last season.
Up next
Hurricanes: At Anaheim on Thursday in the second of a six-game trip.
Sharks: At Utah on Friday.